Benicia High School Tree Planting Project

Eighty
Trees Planted at Benicia High School as a Result of Collaboration

Between
the Benicia Unified School District, Benicia Tree Foundation, and the CA Native
Plant Society

The Benicia Tree Foundation (BTF) has
partnered with the Benicia Unified School District (BUSD) to garner a grant
from California ReLeaf to plant 80 trees at Benicia High School (BHS). The
project will be implemented in three phases, with the first volunteer based
event taking place on Saturday, February 26, 2011, from 9am to noon. The
planting will be carried out at the corner of Military West and Denfield Avenue,
at the base of the BHS athletic fields. The local Willis Linn Jepson Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
is also supporting the project.

Janice
Adams, BUSD Superintendent, remarks that “The campus tree planting project
involves planting 80 trees in front of the BHS
athletic fields, establishing a windrow that will protect one third of the
campus currently unprotected by trees. The tree plantings are designed
to provide maximum educational as well as environmental benefits. The tree
plantings will provide opportunities for engaging students in curriculum that
involves issues such as global warming and energy consumption, allowing
students and teachers to take action through applied scientific learning
methods. The project will include demonstrations of urban forestry and ecology,
and emphasize the impacts of sustainable landscape design.” Planting trees on
school sites adjacent to high-traffic corridors helps to reduce the impact of
pollution on students (referred to by researchers as “sensitive receptors”) and
teachers. Trees, when planted in sufficient quantities, also have the ability
to mitigate roadway noise and improve the visual aesthetics school campuses. The
BTF Board of Directors, comprised of Benicia residents and volunteers, is hopeful
that the positive impacts of the campus tree plantings will be analyzed and
replicated throughout the BUSD.

Wolfram
Alderson, Executive Director of the BTF, states that “Unfortunately, due to
age, disease, and other factors, the tree population has been dwindling on the
BHS campus and throughout the BUSD. Students, teachers, and administrators
desire an improved tree canopy on campuses in the school district. Like several
of Benicia’s schools, the BHS campus is now surrounded by asphalt parking, turf
fields, traffic corridors, and barren hills sparsely planted with trees. The
athletic fields, lacking any protection from the wind or shade from the sun,
require excessive irrigation, and sports events can subject participants to
extremes of full-sun heat to bone-chilling winds. The planting site will be
heavily mulched, providing an ecological solution for improving the soil that
minimizes irrigation needs and reduces erosion. Trees filter pollutants, nutrients, sediments, and
pesticides while absorbing water runoff. A study by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Center for Urban Forest Research indicates that a medium-sized
tree can intercept 2,380 gallons of rain per year.”

Several
of Benicia’s schools are located adjacent to the 780 freeway, and are impacted
by the exhaust from the estimated 58,000 cars per day that pass through the
center of Benicia. Furthermore, Benicia also happens to be centered in a triad
of three of California’s largest refineries. Benicia has the fourth highest
ozone rate in Bay Area.

Student
leaders at BHS have a role on the Community Sustainability Commission of
Benicia. Benicia’s Climate Action Plan is at the forefront of efforts in Solano
County. Key goals in the Benicia Climate Action Plan include increasing the
number of trees in the community and the use of drought tolerant landscaping.
Currently, BHS trees provide shade and protection from constant winds blowing
in from the Carquinez Straits. Giant Redwoods now provide an effective windrow
in front of the school entrance, providing a majestic face to the campus, and
large Mulberry trees are among an assortment of other tree species provide
shade and a distinct sense of place in the center courtyard of the school.
Students naturally gravitate to and cluster under these trees that are a
beloved part of the campus landscape, according to Teresa Finn, BHS Teacher and
Advisor to the BHS Eco-Club. "BHS
is fortunate to be the focus of this collaboration. Trees really do do a
student body good! I look forward to watching these trees grow to the
size of the trees in the main quad, a place of grace on our busy campus,”
Finn remarks.

Gene Doherty, President of the Willis Linn
Jepson Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, comments that “non-native
and invasive plants now make up the majority of the plant species we see around
Benicia. We are very pleased that this project is focused on planting trees
native to California. This project increases habitat havens for wildlife and is
the final local activity of California’s first annual Native Plant Week which
recognizes the role native plants play in sustaining biodiversity. We look
forward to working with everyone to successfully complete this and other future
projects.”

Volunteers are encouraged to come
dressed ready to get dirty, and bring gloves, a hat and drinking water. The BTF encourages volunteers to bring tools
and also encourages donations of shovels, rakes, hole diggers, hoes, and other garden
implements. The BTF was established in
2010 and received its initial funding from the Valero Good Neighbors / VIP
Settlement. Volunteers can sign up in advance for the project at www.beniciatrees.org/volunteer
or email wolfram@beniciatrees.org
for more information. All participants will be required to sign a waiver &
release of liability. Minors also require a signature of a parent or guardian.

This
event is one of three events planned to implement the Benicia High School Tree Planting
Project:

Site Clean Up and Prep / February
26, 2011: Saturday, from 9 AM to Noon

Irrigation System Installation
/ March 26, 2011: Saturday, from 9 AM to Noon

Our event went well. The event was focused on preparing the
site for tree planting that will occur in April. There are at least two more
events that will be held that will be open to the public.

2)
Was
everything accomplished that needed to be?

Yes. Volunteers cleaned up a truckload trash, rocks, and
weeds. Volunteers also staked off where the existing irrigation is and also
staked off the locations where the trees will be planted.

3)
Was
there a good turn-out of volunteers?

Thirteen volunteers showed up, including Benicia’s Mayor,
Elizabeth Patterson, Scott Osterholt, BHS Teacher, Board members of the Benicia
Tree Foundation, and other “die-hard” volunteers with a long history of involvement in
environmental causes in Benicia.

Coincidentally, there was also a group of BHS students
working on the other side of campus with Lisa Burton, a community volunteer who
is leading an effort to plant native tree seedlings. You can email Lisa can tell you more
about that project.

4)
Are we
still looking for more volunteers?

Of course, we would like to see more BHS students involved in our
next two events, especially the big tree planting event in April. In the
interim, additional times for students to be involved during or after school
during the week, can be arranged. The entire area that will be planted needs to
be mulched, and it would be desirable for this to happen as soon as possible.

5)
When
are the next volunteer opportunities?

This event was the first of three
events planned to implement the Benicia High School Tree Planting Project:

Site
Clean Up and Prep / February 26, 2011: Saturday, from 9 AM to Noon

Irrigation
System Installation / March 26, 2011: Saturday, from 9 AM to Noon

6)
Whose
idea was it to originally apply for the grant to pay for the trees?

The Benicia Tree Foundation took the initiative on this
effort. We were inspired and encouraged to do so by the efforts of BHS teachers
Teresa Finn, Melanie Voss, Joshua Bradley, Scott Osterholt and the Eco-Club,
Garden Club, and Green Academy. Janice Adams, BUSD Superintendent, has been an
enthusiastic supporter, and was among those who signed a letter of support for
the project.

7)
How
much is the grant?

The grant is from California ReLeaf for the amount of
$5,285. The Benicia Tree Foundation provided matching funds, derived in part
from the Valero Good Neighbor Steering Committee Settlement Agreement.

8)
Will
there be other trees planted at Benicia schools or just BHS?

We hope so. This project is the first in a new partnership
with the BUSD. The Native Plant Society and Benicia Community Gardens has also
joined the partnership, so there is definitely momentum growing. The real key
is student involvement!

9)
What
types of trees are being planted?

Tree
Qtys.

Species

Size
of Specimen

20

Calocedrus
decurrens (Incense Cedar)

15 gals

30

Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak)

15 gals

30

Cedrus deodora (Deodar Cedar)

15 gals

The tree list is subject to change.

10) Didn't there at one time used to be trees
along the same area from a Boy Scout eagle project?

There are some Redwoods remaining that we will preserve. The
work that was done by this student was an inspiration for the project. The seed
of his efforts is growing strong.

11) Do you know what happened to those trees?

Several have died, probably due to faulty irrigation.
Redwoods require irrigation during the years they become established. The
majority of trees on our list will not require irrigation after the third year.

Look at the glorious trees in front of the school and in the
central courtyard. Think of how barren the campus would be without them. We can
give thanks to those visionaries who, decades ago, thought of planting trees
that would provide so many benefits to the students and faculty. Walking around
Benicia, you will find it challenging to find an area where birds are singing
as strongly as those that are in the Mulberry trees in the BHS courtyard…it is
like a wild chorus.

Canaries were once used in coal mining as an early warning
system. Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide in the mine would kill the birds
before affecting the miners. When we plant trees, we create habitat for birds
and forms of wildlife, inviting nature to come in a little closer to our built
environment. The presence and effect of bird song on humans is a subject of
recent research. Today, the presence of
birds and the trees they inhabit are modern day indicators of environmental
health (or hazards). BHS is located next to a freeway travelled by 58,000 cars
per day. Several refineries in the area contribute to the fact that Benicia has
the fourth highest levels of ground level ozone in the Bay Area. Each tree we
plant helps us mitigate these conditions, and invites the birds to sing where
we live and learn.